Hello, all! As additional progress has been reported on several temples, it is once again necessary to post an update about those developments. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think. Thanks.
Temple Construction Progress Update
(current as of 3/23/17)
Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 4 scheduled
for dedication; 7 under
construction; 3 more
have construction pending, but all of them are anticipated to commence
construction before (or at least by) the start of Summer 2017; 1 scheduled
for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 2 renovations scheduled; 8 announced. NOTE: With
two groundbreakings having already taken place this year, we could see several
others before too much longer. For all of the announced temples that have not
yet had a groundbreaking, I offer my best-guess estimate for when that might
happen, to which I have recently made adjustments and corrections. One
correction is noting that we might only see one other groundbreaking this year,
though it seems that one is not as imminent as I originally was led to believe.
Dedication scheduled:
156. Paris France
Temple: Plaza water features operational; accepting
reservations for public open house (which will run from Saturday April
22-Saturday May 13 (excluding the Sundays of April 23 and 30 and May 7)); dedication
scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.
157. Tucson
Arizona Temple: Additional lighting tests underway; accepting reservations for
public open house beginning Monday May 15, 2017; (which will run from Saturday
June 3-Saturday June 24 (excluding the Sundays of June 4, 11, and 18)); dedication
scheduled for Sunday August 13, 2017.
158. Meridian
Idaho Temple: Monument sign installed; interior work progressing; dedication scheduled for Sunday November 19, 2017.
159. Cedar
City Utah Temple: Installing glass; hanging drywall on interior; dedication
scheduled for Sunday December 10, 2017.
Under Construction:
160. Rome Italy Temple:
Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid
2018.
161. Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Making concrete pours for window
openings and to seal tops of concrete block walls; completion anticipated
sometime during early-to-mid 2018.
NOTE: For the two temples above,
they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be
completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all
developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.
162. Barranquilla
Colombia Temple: Sheathing exterior walls with rigid
foam insulation; steel framework for cupola installed; completion
anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
163. Concepcion Chile
Temple: Exterior cladding progressing on north wall; planting palm trees on
west side; monument sign poured; waterproofing membrane attached to east wall; completion
anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
164. Durban South Africa
Temple: Setting rebar and concrete forms for temple exterior walls; preparing to pour floor slab for missionary housing; completion
anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
NOTE: For the two temples above,
they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be
completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all
developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.
165. Fortaleza Brazil
Temple: Erecting structural framing for temple tower; completion
anticipated sometime during early-to-mid
2019.
167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation
completed for temple foundation; structural framing going up for
meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.
Construction pending:
166. Winnipeg Manitoba
Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; awaiting commencement of
full-scale operations, which may occur in April or May 2017 (construction
currently delayed by a very bad Canadian winter); completion anticipated
sometime during early-to-mid 2019.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to last around 20 months (approximately 1.67 years.) It is a
smaller edifice that is being built to at the moment serve just the one stake
in Manitoba. So it might be completed sooner than that. It all depends on how
soon construction will be able to start, and how quickly it progresses after
that.
168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Groundbreaking
held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting
commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion
anticipated sometime during mid-2019.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to last around 24 months (2 years) in view of it being the one
and only building on the project.
169.
Arequipa Peru Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting
commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion
anticipated sometime during late 2019-early
2020.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to take roughly 28 months (2.25 years) to complete. This is
because there are neighboring construction projects involved that will all be worked
on simultaneously.
Rededication Scheduled:
8. Idaho Falls Idaho
Temple: Closed for renovation; accepting reservations for public open house beginning
Monday April 3, 2017; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.
Undergoing Renovation:
20. Jordan River Utah
Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2018.
41. Frankfurt Germany
Temple: Closed for renovation; building basement
addition for new baptistry; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to
mid-2018.
Renovation Scheduled:
13. Oakland California Temple: Scheduled to
close for renovation in February 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during
mid-to-late 2019.
16. Washington D. C. Temple: Scheduled to close
for renovation in March 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid
2020.
NOTE: In view of the fact that we
have already had two temple groundbreaking events so far this year, it is entirely
possible that we might see site announcements and groundbreakings for other
temples in the near future. That said, it is interesting to consider that,
while some of those groundbreakings might be more likely than others,
ultimately, it is more difficult than I originally believed to try and pinpoint
how soon those groundbreakings are likely to take place. Wanting to be as
conservative in my estimates as I am able to be, I have adjusted some things.
As always, I would be gratified to hear of such events happening much sooner
than anyone expects. But for the moment, it seems wise to make some
adjustments. Thanks.
Announced:
170. Harare Zimbabwe
Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; site announcement and
groundbreaking anticipated sometime later this year.
NOTE: While the site announcement
for this temple has been anticipated since the president of the Church’s Africa
Southeast Area stated it would happen sometime this year, and while I would
love to see a site announced just before, sometime during, or shortly after
General Conference and to see a groundbreaking happen sometime between the
dedication of the Paris France Temple and the rededication of the Idaho Falls
Idaho Temple, I am not as confident as I once was in predicting that it will
happen within that time frame. I will be more conservative, therefore, and say
that whenever we do have a site announcement, the groundbreaking could take
place sometime between mid-and-late 2017.
171. Port-au-Prince
Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple site confirmed;
groundbreaking not announced.
NOTE: On Sunday March 12, while
presiding at a stake conference for the area in which the first Haitian temple
will be built, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles officially
announced and confirmed that, just as members in the area had speculated, the
plot of land behind an existing meetinghouse on the Route de Freres (French for
“The Route of Brothers”) had been purchased as the official site for the first
Haitian temple. While such site announcements generally signal that a
groundbreaking might shortly follow, there is reason to believe that it will
take the Church at least a year to plan and design the edifice to conform to
government regulations and to be acceptable to the locals. It therefore makes
sense to adjust my estimate here and to say that a groundbreaking could happen
by early-to-mid 2018.
172. Bangkok Thailand
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: There is more than sufficient
reason to believe the current speculation being perpetuated to the effect that,
in the mold of the already-existing multi-purpose buildings that house not only
an office building but a meetinghouse and a temple as well (they are now known
as the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York Temples), a similar renovation
and rebuilding might happen to a Church-owned office building in Bangkok. If it
happens that way, we could see construction there commence with a
groundbreaking by early-to-mid 2018 as
well.
173. Lima Peru Los
Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: This temple is the last of
the four announced in 2016, and is unique already for two reasons: First, this
temple will make Lima Peru the third city in the world to have a second temple
announced. The other two are in Utah: South Jordan and Provo. Second the name
for this second temple for the capital city of Peru is Los Olivos, and the fact
that there is a Los Olivos district in Lima gives us some indication as to the
general area in which this temple will be built. These facts are sufficient
grounds to surmise that this temple is ahead of the others listed below that
were announced first. Considering all of this leads me to conclude that we
could see a groundbreaking held for this temple sometime during mid-2018, if not indeed before.
174. Abidjan Ivory
Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: The growth in Cote d’Ivoire
has really taken off in the last several years. It is interesting to note that,
even though this first Ivory Coast temple has not yet had a site announcement
or groundbreaking, the astonishing growth developments that are ongoing have
led some to speculate that the Ivory Coast could have another temple or two
announced at some point before the first one is completed. Time will tell. In
the meantime, it seems more than likely that construction could commence on
this first one with a groundbreaking ceremony held sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
175. Quito Ecuador
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: Ecuador’s second temple is
set to be built in that nation’s capital city. The new temple was announced around
33 years after the first Ecuadoran temple in Guayaquil. The time intervening
between the announcement of that temple and when it was actually dedicated
still stands as the longest such period in Church history. It is my personal
hope that the second temple for this nation will not be subjected to so many
delays. Given how much the Church has expanded throughout South America of
late, I will venture my estimate that we could see a groundbreaking for this
temple sometime during late 2018-early
2019.
176. Belem Brazil
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: Because Brazil ranks as one
of the very fastest growing nations in terms of the Church’s presence there,
the announcement of the ninth temple in Brazil brings it closer than any other
nation to the number of operating temples in Utah. (The December dedication
already scheduled in Cedar City will bring the number of Utah temples to 17,
which means that Brazil is more than halfway there. If there is any merit at
all into what I have heard about possible future temple sites for Brazil, the
number of Brazilian temples could increase by at least five within the next
15-20 years or so, and perhaps more than that may be under active consideration
right now. Getting back to the Belem temple, construction might officially be
underway there sometime during early-to-mid
2019, which would ensure that Brazil would continue to have at least two
temples simultaneously under construction for the next two years
177. Urdaneta
Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting
official site announcement.
NOTE: While it is true that this temple
is technically ahead of those above by virtue of it being in the planning and
approval phase, it has been almost 6.5 years since this temple was announced.
That is a most significant delay. As noted above on the listing for the Quito
Ecuador temple, the first Ecuadoran temple (built in the city of Guayquil) is
remembered for being the temple that had the longest known interval in Church
history between its announcement and its groundbreaking (a time period that
spanned 14 years, 4 months, and 10 days, which rounded to the nearest hundredth
of a year is 14.36. It is my sincere hope and belief that we will never again
see such a lengthy period of time between any other site announcement and
groundbreaking. All going well, I could definitely see a groundbreaking for the
Urdaneta temple somewhere around mid-to-late
2019, if not before.
NOTE: Given how much progress we
have seen with temples recently, it is not hard to believe that we will see
many more temples announced in the near future. There have been reports of several
cities that have already had a site purchased already. These four have been
identified by name: Managua Nicaragua, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea,
Bentonville Arkansas, and Missoula Montana. If other potential temples have had
a site purchased, they have yet to be identified as such. As the apostles
travel, they sometimes have felt impressed to publicly propose a temple for the
areas they visit. Such temples have been proposed in New Delhi India (in June
1992 by Elder Neal A. Maxwell; may not be likely due to the prevailing
political and religious obstacles to such an edifice); Vilnius Lithuania (in
May 1993 by Elder M. Russell Ballard); Nairobi Kenya (in February 1998 by
President Gordon B. Hinckley; this temple might have an official announcement
within the next year or so, as Kenya ranks as the 10th of the top
ten countries with the most Church members without a temple); Maracaibo
Venezuela (in August 1999 by President Hinckley); Singapore (in January 2000 by
President Hinckley); for the Southwest Salt Lake Valley (in October 2005 by
President Hinckley; NOTE: While some contend that this temple announcement has
already happened, verifiable sources widely available prove otherwise); Managua
Nicaragua (in January 2012 by then-Elder Russell M. Nelson; the fact that it
has not only been publicly proposed but has had a site purchased for it makes
it very likely; it is also the 1st of the top ten countries with the
largest LDS presence without a temple); Missoula Montana (sometime in 2014 by
Elder David A. Bednar; while the report of this proposal has yet to be
verified, the fact that there has been a purchase of a temple site seems to
indicate that it is a most imminent possibility); and for the Kasai Region in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in February 2016 by Elder Neil L.
Andersen). I have heard many reports of several more temple sites being
procured, but the nature of those reports are such that they have yet to be
verified.
Key:
Bolded numbers and text denote
temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a
scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as
dedication or groundbreaking dates.
Italicized numbers and
text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which
future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.
Underlined numbers and text denote
temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval,
and groundbreaking.
Red
text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report.
